Back to series
March 2012
C.S. Lewis was a world renowned scholar in 16th century English Literature. He wasn’t a theologian, pastor, or priest. And so, in the introduction to his book, Reflections on the Psalms, he acknowledges with sincere humility his lack of professional training in the field of theology. And yet, he points out that often we learn more from fellow students than from the experts, especially when it comes to matters of faith. He writes:
This is not a work of scholarship. I am no Hebraist, no higher critic, no ancient historian, no archeologist. I write for the unlearned about things in which I am unlearned myself. If an excuse is needed (and perhaps it is) for writing such a book, my excuse would be something like this. It often happens that two schoolboys can solve difficulties in their work for one another better than the master can. When you took the problem to a master, as we all remember, he was very likely to explain what you understood already, to add a great deal of information which you didn’t want, and say nothing at all about the thing that was puzzling you. I have watched this from both sides of the net; for when, as a teacher myself, I have tried to answer questions brought me by pupils, I have sometimes, after a minute, seen that expression settle down on their faces which assured me that they were suffering exactly the same frustration which I had suffered from my own teachers. The fellow-pupil can help more than the master because he knows less. The difficulty we want him to explain is one he has recently met. The expert met it so long ago that he has forgotten.
He sees the whole subject, by now, in such a different light that he cannot conceive what is really troubling the pupil; he sees a dozen other difficulties which ought to be troubling him but aren’t.
In this book, then, I write as one amateur to another, talking about difficulties I have met, or lights I have gained, when reading the Psalms, with the hope that this might at any rate interest, and sometimes even help, other inexpert readers. I am “comparing notes,” not presuming to instruct…The thoughts it contains are those to which I found myself driven in reading the Psalms; sometimes by my enjoyment of them, sometimes by meeting with what at first I could not enjoy.1
Don’t discount the knowledge and experience that God has given you to share with fellow believers. If, like Lewis, in humility you are willing to “compare notes” with other inexpert believers, you may be joyfully surprised at the results. As well, if you are a “teacher,” in humility, be ready to learn from your pupils, especially when it comes to matters of faith.
I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—
that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.
ROMANS 1:11-12 (NIV)
1 C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms. (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1960), pp. 1–2
COPYRIGHT: This publication is published by C.S. Lewis Institute; 8001 Braddock Road, Suite 301; Springfield, VA 22151. Portions of the publication may be reproduced for noncommercial, local church or ministry use without prior permission. Electronic copies of the PDF files may be duplicated and transmitted via e-mail for personal and church use. Articles may not be modified without prior written permission of the Institute. For questions, contact the Institute: 703.914.5602 or email us.
-
Recent Podcasts
An Honest Search for God – Dr. Jay Medenwaldt’s Story
by Jana Harmon, Jay Medenwaldt on June 20, 2025Why do people believe in God? In this...Read More
-
Moving Beyond Forgiveness to an Abundant Life
by Robert Saucy, Aimee Riegert on June 13, 2025
-
Is There Something More? – Laura Zifer Powell’s Story
by Laura Zifer Powell, Jana Harmon on June 6, 2025
-
Recent Publications
Are Miracles Possible
by Christopher L. Reese on June 1, 2025The 21st century has provoked many conversations and...Read More
-
Is God Just, Not Fair?
by Jennifer Rothschild on May 15, 2025
-
Seeking Dietrich Bonhoeffer
by Joseph A. Kohm on April 29, 2025
0
All Booked
0.00
All Booked
0.00
All Booked
22904
GLOBAL EVENT: 2025 Study Tour of C.S. Lewis’s Belfast & Oxford
https://www.cslewisinstitute.org/?event=global-event-2025-study-tour-of-c-s-lewiss-belfast-oxford&event_date=2025-06-24®=1
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr
2025-06-24

Next coming event
Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
GLOBAL EVENT: 2025 Study Tour of C.S. Lewis’s Belfast & Oxford
On June 24, 2025 at 12:00 pmat Belfast, Northern Ireland & Oxford, EnglandSpeakers
C.S. Lewis Institute
Author
Team Members

C.S. Lewis Institute
Author
C.S. Lewis Institute, in the legacy of C.S. Lewis, works to develop wholehearted disciples of Jesus Christ who will articulate, defend, share, and live their faith in personal and public life. Founded in 1976 by Dr. James Houston and James R. Hiskey, the Institute provides leading teachers who address important issues of the day from the perspective of Biblical orthodoxy, while also providing discipleship for individuals in small groups.
